Ribbons for Mom

I just sewed the binding on Mom's quilt.  I'll do the hand sewing on the car trip. The rectangles of pink for the border were the same length as the blocks so that they could be sewn together with the blocks instead of as a separate step.  I guess I'll try to avoid borders in whatever way I can.  The back is flannel with pink ribbons, so it should be nice and soft.  There is enough extra so that I can make a little carry bag and pillow to match.  I'm not sure if you can see the quilting, but it is stripes of ribbons.   

Spring break seems to have zoomed by so far. Monday was rainy and we went with friends to see a movie. The kids thought the movie for Diary of a Wimpy Kid was very different from the book, but they seemed to enjoy it. Kurt had a meeting in Miami yesterday so was gone all day. I had a repairman over to look at the fridge and it looks like we'll be needing a new one.  I did get out last night though for drinks with two girl friends.We tried to go to Grills, but faced with an hour long wait for a table we found a back-up plan.  There is something very nice about being able to sit next to the water and relax with friends and food. 

All's Well

The fire is out, no houses were harmed, I think one fire fighter twisted an ankle, but other than that everyone is safe and sound.  I went by on my jog this morning to see what the damage was, but it wasn't visible from the road on this side.  I have absolutely nothing that I have to do today.  I can't remember the last time that happened.  I think I'll sew some and read some and maybe even get my toes done. 

Brush Fire

We're watching a brush fire burn right now.  It is across the street, but we are smelling smoke and keeping an eye open. 

SPRING BREAK!

It is the first day of spring break and I am looking forward to a little time to relax.  It seems that every minute of every day has been booked for a while now.  Kurt has taken all three kids to a birthday party at the park and I am sitting here pondering a huge pile of green scraps that seem to be yelling SPRING.  I wonder what they will turn into?

Scrap Happy Saturday

It is the first Saturday in spring break and for a change from recent weeks, I am getting to play along!  I'm off to ice skating first thing, but then I'm home to play with some green scraps.  I hope everyone else is up to lots of good stuff.  March is almost done, I wonder what April will bring?

Home Stretch

Tomorrow is the last school day before spring break!!  I don't think it has quite sunk in yet that I am going to have a week off.  The last time I was supposed to have a vacation I ended up taking a new job and missing out completely.  It is going to be nice to be able to spend a couple of days at home.  There will be time to finish off mom's chemo quilt and to get some work done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'm feeling a bit guilty about not having participated in my own challenge in recent weeks. 
Tonight was the awards ceremony for Anna's science fair project.  I know we already did an award thing for her project, but that one was for the school and tonight was the district level.  She was so happy with her 4th place ribbon and is already planning project ideas for next year.
It was a big day on the family front.  My mom had her first round of chemo and it all went great!  She isn't feeling any side effects yet and is upbeat about the results.  We are all working hard at keeping a positive attitude.  Kurt's mom had a shoulder replacement surgery today.  She is still feeling numb from the nerve block they used and will stay in the hospital overnight while that wears off. 
I guess that is all.  I need to go and look over the tests that I am giving tomorrow.  We have this nifty new grade camera thing that is supposed to grade them instantaneously.  If only it could score the essay questions I would be a happy camper. 

Same Old Same Old

I think every post I've written lately starts with me saying I've been really busy lately and hope to have time to quilt really soon.  I'll skip the list of why I've been so busy lately and let you just assume it is more of the same things that have been keeping me running for the last few months. 

I've only found time to quilt tonight because I was asked to help a friend.   Even though I should have been getting work done for school, it was nice to sew a tiny bit.  My dear neighbor Miss Sheila who used to help with my girl scout troop is having a another granddaughter very soon and wanted to make a quilt.  She chose the fabrics and came over a couple of weeks ago to see if I could help her put it together to make a quilt.  She wanted to use large pieces to show off the fabrics but do something other than just regular squares.  I suggested that we use my large tumbler die for the gocutter and she arranged and sewed the blocks together.  I just finished putting the border on for her so that she can take to to her ladies at church who are going to tie it. 
I got an apologetic e-mail from another teacher at school this week letting me know that she overheard some kids talking and they had discovered that I had a blog.  Not only that, but they were reading it!  I think it is hilarious that my students are spending their spare time reading a quilt blog.  So if any of them have made it this far, remember that we have a test coming up on Friday and you should be studying instead of reading about quilting! 
I just got back from senior follies tonight and enjoyed seeing the students making fun of the teachers and the teachers making fun of the students.  I haven't been there long enough to have gotten all of the inside jokes, but I the gist of it.  I've got a lot of seniors in my classes and wanted to be supportive. 
Thanks for all the kind wishes and prayers for Mom.  She appreciated having me come and visit for the weekend.  We got the results from her biopsy back yesterday and they found cancer in three out of the four lymph nodes that they biopsied.  She was discouraged about that, but chemo is scheduled to start in the morning so she will learn more about what that means in terms of her treatment when she meets with the oncologist again.  We are all optimistic that the cancer will respond well to the drugs and hopeful that it hasn't spread any further. 

Scrap Happy Saturday

I'm off to Atlanta this weekend to hang with Mom.  She had the surgery to put in a port before chemotherapy starts next week.  I'll try to check out everyone's work, though I won't be getting in any sewing done at all.  I've loaded a new book on my i-pad for the flight.  It is by Emilie Richards who writes the Shenendoah Valley series which has quilting as a background sort of theme.  There is a new Jennifer Chiaverini as well if I finish that one off.  \

Scrap Happy Saturday

Sorry for the late start.  I was off at ice skating.

Hilarious Humpday

I saw this in an article on yahoo news and thought it was so funny. 

Design Wall Monday March 7. 2011

It has been a while since I've had anything to show on Design Wall Monday.  Keeping up with quilting and blogging has taken a temporary back seat to getting things going with my new job.  Then Mom asked for a quilt to take along to chemotherapy and those things had to pop to the top of the priority list again.  I'm sure I'll come up with a better name than Mom's Chemo Quilt as things go on.  Sydney and Anna helped to pick out the fabrics.  They've been sketching design ideas out on notebook paper for me to consider.  The names of all of the grand-kids will go on the back, everyone has phoned in a vote for their favorite colors.  Then it will just be a matter of collecting together some photos and I should be all set to go. 

Wacky Weekend

Saturday was the regional Odyssey of the Mind Competition.  This was our third year having a team.  Our problem was to build a Rube Goldberg Machine.  Check out this link if you don't know what a Rube Goldberg Machine is. 

The machine worked great, but we lost a lot of points on style and didn't do very well in the spontaneous problem.  With a 4th place finish, it will be our first time ever not to make it to state.  I shouldn't admit that I am relieved to be done.  We are constantly way overbooked these days that it is nice to see the end of an activity.  There were two other teams from our school though who did a fabulous job and both of them finished first in their categories and qualified for state! One team had a boy from our Lego team and the other was most of our Girl Scout Troop.  We got to watch their performance and it was fabulous.  Ryan's flag football team was also there and ended up making it to the next round, so there were celebrations all around. 
It was also the day of Girl Scout Camporee.  We were going to try to make it for at least part of the day between the competition and the awards ceremony.  I was pretty wiped out though, and the kids seemed to be about the same.  We all took a little bit of a power nap before heading back down again for evening festivities. 

Today I started making some pink ribbon blocks for Mom's Chemo Quilt.  I found a pattern here, and modified it so that it used slightly large pieces.  The directions called for a lot of squares and half square triangles sewn together and it seemed like too many seams to think about.  I've got 7 ribbon blocks done and have most of the chain blocks in progress.  I'll need to put it away soon though so I can get some work done for school tomorrow.  It has been nice to spend some time on other things this weekend, but I will be paying the price all week trying to keep up with lesson plans and grading. 
Speaking of keeping up with things.  I want to apologize to anyone who has commented recently and not gotten a response back quite yet.  It has been an adjustment to keep up with the new schedule and I'm not quite into a routine yet.  I'm slowly working my way backwards to try to catch up again.  So for anyone who has recently asked to join the Rainbow Scrap Challenge -- please consider yourself joined.  I'll get your name added to the list "officially" as soon as I can find a chance.  

Scrap Happy Saturday -- Now in Green

A brand new month and a chance to play with a new color.  I'm taking a quick break before jumping in to green for a pink quilt that mom requested.  I'll be back to the color of the month soon enough. Until then, I know there is LOTS of green out there waiting to come out and play. 

Another Week Wrapped Up

Every week is getting a little bit easier at my new job.  The students are starting to settle in and we are all getting used to the new routines.  Registration is already going on for next years classes and I am looking forward to being able to start fresh with all my transition experiences to help me along.  There are just 7 weeks until the first AP exam, so there isn't much time time to worry, it is just jump in and swim fast!  I was awfully glad to see the weekend come though and will enjoy a chance to take a deep breath before jumping in again. 

Another Cancer Quilt, In Pink

I was hoping not to make any more cancer quilts for a while. Mom is getting ready to start chemotherapy though, and she would like a pink quilt to take with her. Sydney and Anna just helped me pull out some fabric and now they are drawing out some design ideas.  I am thinking hearts and ribbons.  Sydney would like some words to go with it. 

End of the Red Month

Everyone seems to have enjoyed making lots of beautiful red scrap creations. Feel free to post a link below to a post about your red projects. March will be GREEN in honor of Saint Patrick's day and (hopefully) the emergence of new green growth in the spring. So go grab some green and start thinking about what you can make. Remember, mother nature mixes ALL greens with reckless abandon -- we can do the same!